Caught in the Rain
by Lunaurora
Summary: Musashi and Kojiro's Valentine's Day is spent in a way that neither would expect. Short, with slight Rocketshipping, but, hopefully, not too much.


:: Category :: Light Rocketshipping.  
  
:: Rating :: G - so it's safe for everyone.  
  
::Timeline:: Sometime between the last Orange League episode and the first Johto one.  
  
Sorry about the size. It's pitifully small... even for a standard short story. Please forgive me.  
  
It is, in fact, raining profusely as I... well, type. Stupid rain... Anyways, it gave me someting half-decent to write about. Also, before you go verbally bashing me, I tried to make this as in character as I could [because as I skimread through 'You're It' - written over a year ago, mind you - I found that it is dreadfully out of character and I thought about scrapping the entire thing for a while, but decided not to].  
  
::Translations:: Some of these are literal, some are the actual translation. I got hopelessly confused half-way through and there's a little bit'a both scattered everywhere. Oh well. For the Japanese illiterates [which... would include me...] :  
  
Musashi - Jessie ~ Kojiro - James ~ Nyasu - Meowth ~ Satoshi - Ash ~ Kasumi - Misty ~ Takeshi - Brock ~ Pikachu - Pikachu [duh] ~ Ivui - Eevee ~ O-Tsukimi Yawa [Moon-Viewing Mountain] - Mt. Moon ~ Hanada City - Cerulean City ~ Kuchiba City - Vermillion City  
.:: Caught in the Rain ::.  
  
She sighed and snuggled deeper into her friend's warm grasp. Her large, puppy-like ear flopped down in front on her face, cold and very much so saturated. Training her eyes on the overhead streetlights, she pulled the scruffy, potato-bag-of-a-blanket over herself. Late Summer's rain poured profusely in every direction, without any sign of an end. It made the day's sunset look uncharacteristically dull with it's shades of grey.  
  
"Musashi?" her companion murmured, rolling over onto his side and facing her, half-awake.  
  
She peered at him and sniffled lightly. "Yeah? What is it, Kojiro?"  
  
"Nothing... I just thought you were asleep," Kojiro replied and blinked beads of rain out of his vision.  
  
The couple were two drenched Ivui. A pair of chocolate-brown, furry, puppy Pocket Monster, with fluffy cream manes to match, only unlike the species which they were supposed to be, their eyes were azure blue and jade green respectively. Kojiro still had that cute wisp of hair that hung over his face, even in Pocket Monster form, while Musashi's fur had been pushed forward from the rain to make a pretty, wavy fringe.  
  
With a muffled yawn, she felt Kojiro cuddle her tighter from behind. "I wish it would stop raining already."  
  
As if to spite her, the water started to come down harder on top of them and her grimace grew more frustrated. Kojiro laughed at her in his Ivui- like way and she swatted at him, missing him completely.  
  
"Shut up," she snapped from beneath him. On impulse, his giggling grew louder and she kicked him with her hind leg.  
  
He sat up slowly and Musashi suddenly missed his body heat, though she was rather grumpy. "Whatever you say. It's getting worse, we'd better go find better shelter than this dump."  
  
"I hate this. I hate... that I'm not beautiful any more," she grumbled and stood up, stretching her much shortened legs.  
  
Kojiro looked at her critically, it seemed, then he stifled another gawfle. "You _are_ beautiful, silly." Musashi smiled to herself. It was like him to say something nice about her.  
  
As she looked back at him to reply, she suddenly realized how handsome her best friend really looked. Even as a Pocket Monster. His boyish cuteness had been brought out further through his transformation and she liked that, even if he was just as gorgeous when he was human. She her soft spot for cute guys was starting to get the best of her, she blushed and adverted her eyes from his face and looked down at the bitumen ground, into a puddle. A matching set of teal eyes peered back at her from the dirty water, not exactly complementing her newly found chestnut brown fur.  
  
Despite her current mood, she smirked, mostly to herself than anyone. "I guess my beauty is everlasting, isn't that right?" she told him, but didn't wait for an answer. Instead, she narrowed her eyes at him in a bitter glare. "And don't call _me_ silly. If anyone around here is silly, it's definitely you, for letting that... _thing_ get us."  
  
A shiver ran down her spine, mostly from the cold than the memory of their rough day, and she hopped ahead of him, as if to show off her natural grace. She shook the gathering rain off of her bushy tail while inspecting her slightly knotted mane before leading the way to a new place to sleep that was more cleaner and definitely more drier.  
  
"I could've called you a narcissist instead, y'know," he replied faintly. She didn't seem to hear him and he was glad. He would've gotten a smack across the back of his head if she did. Or whatever an Ivui does when provoked.  
  
Ivui. Small, weak Pocket Monsters in battling terms. Not at all like Musashi in the slightest, he reasoned with himself. Why didn't that thing turn her into something else, like a Kyuukon? He sighed and his almost permanent grin faded as he remembered the day's incidents...  
.:: ::.  
The sun was high in the sky, and according to Takeshi's field skills, it was approaching noon. His oriental, thinning eyes were concentrated on the road ahead, where it branched off in two different directions, arrows with their appropriate name written on them as they pointed where they should.  
  
Hanada City and Kuchiba City.  
  
Well, he thought to himself, I think Kasumi would be wanting to see her sisters before leaving for another journey. Besides, they're really hot.  
  
He smiled giddily, before turning to his companions. They hobbled along the dirt road side by side with Pikachu between them. Apart from being a bit scruffy from the hike through O-Tsukimi Yawa and a tad dehydrated, they didn't look too worse for wear.  
  
Kasumi groaned and collapsed on the ground, Togepi in arm, while Satoshi held himself up with one arm firmly planted on her shoulder. Pikachu gave a gasp, before resting his head on his master's knee.  
  
"I hope there's a Pocket Monster Center nearby," Kasumi stated, holding out her Monster Balls, containing very worn fighters. If anyone travels through O-Tsukimi Yawa, then they're bound to be found by random trainers. And Zubat were more of an annoyance than a help, flitting around above their heads, teasingly.  
  
Satoshi nodded. "Yeah, the last thing we need is for the Rocket Dan to show up, while our Pocket Monsters are weak," he agreed. Kasumi shooed his hand off her shoulder, which he complied to, and stood up.  
  
"Then we'd better get moving," Takeshi suggested, but hesitated. "Kasumi, personally, I think it's a good idea to discuss your plans with your sisters before heading west."  
  
There was no missing the glint of hope in his eyes as he said this and the teenaged girl could only roll her own in annoyance. "If you really want to," she gave in. As much as she hated her sisters, she had to tell them her intentions and not disappoint one of her closest companions.  
  
"Yeah!" Takeshi threw a fist into the air, before regaining his composure with a slight blush. The young man grinned and grabbed the arms of his friends and pulled them towards Hanada City.  
  
"Pikaaa..." Pikachu muttered, before dashing after them.  
  
... meanwhile...  
  
Musashi stared critically at the map and frowned. "Kojiro? Are you sure this map is accurate?" She glared in his general direction. The blue-haired man was studying a fossilized Kabuto imbedded in the rock formations. Both were clad in their usual Rocket Dan attire, so they couldn't be mistaken by any other colleagues for everyday trainers. O-Tsukimi Yawa wasn't as fantastic as she remembered it to be. At the moment, all she could see was dark passage ways and lights. No rare Pocket Monsters or Moon Stones.  
  
He turned to face her, more interested in his surroundings than actually finding a way out. "I'm positive. How could it not?"  
  
She took this into account. Of course, it had to be right. If it's worth as much as the map seller had said, then... it had to be. Anyway, the last thing they needed was that scientist, Rikao, running around accusing them of this and that - if, of course, he hadn't been eaten alive by Zubat. She narrowed her blue eyes.  
  
"Six hundred yen, my ass," she grumbled under her breath, and pondered about booting Kojiro up the rear for actually buying it to vent her anger, but kicked a cave wall instead. Fatigue had taken over her and she sat on the dirty cave floor. Kojiro joined her and she rested her head on his arm.  
  
"Where'd Nyasu go?" the blue-haired man asked his partner curiously.  
  
Musashi shrugged. "Beats me. Probably out of here, looking for us," she hissed venomously. It was almost if she was already blaming him for this. He sighed, but fear soon caught up.  
  
"I don't know where we are," Kojiro whimpered pathetically, burying his head in her hair. She sighed, mostly in frustration, but kept her mood in check. At least he didn't state the obvious and send her into another violent fit.  
  
"Well, I don't either, but you don't see me whining about it."  
  
"But you said-"  
  
"Shut up and let me think."  
  
"Okay. Sorry Musa."  
  
She growled and glanced at the map again. It had detailed [too much, if you asked Musashi] layouts of each four floors and advice in the corner on where to catch the rarer Pocket Monsters. Kojiro had recently spilt creaming soda on the second and third floor, and it had only just started to dry, so they had to make do.  
  
Apparently, they were on the third floor - where there were the most Pippi... or something. Sakaki would be more than happy to have a new Pippi in his possession. But there were no Pocket Monsters in sight. Much less, trainers, Kojiro was happy to note, resulting in a frightening punch from her co-worker.  
  
Though she was more angry at Kojiro, Musashi admitted to herself that she was a little scared. It had been an hour before either of them had seen sunlight and it was beginning to bother her.  
  
Her eyelids grew heavier as she felt her friend's arm wrap around her slender waist and she tucked her head against his lean torso. She was just about to fall asleep when Kojiro's voice snapped her out of near-slumber.  
  
"Did you heard that?" he asked, his eyes filled with fear.  
  
Musashi peered up at him. "No, what?"  
  
"It came from over... there..." He lifted his arm to point into pure darkness.  
  
"There's nothi-"  
  
But, before she could possibly finish her sentence, a blinding light filled the cave, emitting a scream from both Musashi and Kojiro mixing in horrendously with the screehing coming from seemingly nowhere.  
  
Musashi thought it was a ghost.  
  
Kojiro thought it was a Pocket Monster.  
  
Either way, as the shine dulled, they saw the shadowy silhouette of something through the brightness. Both had a sudden feeling of numbness and huddled closer together, as if too terrified to move away. The noise, that sounded like a million violins playing an out-of-tune chord all at once, was too much for anyone to bare any longer.  
  
Kojiro wailed something barely audible to Musashi as tears clogged her vision.  
  
Then, it stopped.  
  
The light disappeared and the screehing ceased.  
  
Musashi and Kojiro didn't care. They got to their feet and bolted as quick as the wind in any direction, following each other, without any thought of their whereabouts. They left their Pikachu-catching gear behind, as well as that Godforsaken map that started it all in the first place.  
  
Somehow, just somehow, they found their way out.  
..:: ::..  
She stared through the window glumly. Light flooded out of the Pocket Monster Centre, spilling onto the soaked concrete outside and two Ivui. They had long seated themselves on a wooden crate, watching random trainers stroll in and out.  
  
Kojiro sighed sadly and his head drooped slightly. Musashi sat cuddled against his fluffy mane, seeking precious warmth. It had been a long night, after searching high and low across Hanada City [from their own wild guesses] for a dry place to sleep. Every other spot had already been taken, either by stray Persian or were kicked out by other selfish creatures. Eventually, their prayers had been granted in the form of a Pocket Monster Centre. And they waited there in hopes that the kind nurse would bring them in.  
  
"When will this end?" Kojiro complained softly. His voice had been turned hoarse from the cold that their small bodies couldn't handle.  
  
Musashi blinked daintily and replied. "Maybe it's one of those twenty-four hour things," she muttered. Beads of silver hung from their manes and turned them a dirty light tan from the saturation.  
  
"Maybe..." he mimicked, his own voice fading. Then, panick siezed him. "Oh - what if never get changed back?"  
  
"Of course we will," Musashi cooed, most unlike her. He half expected her to hit him or shout or something.  
  
Maybe the rain is getting to her, Kojiro reasoned with himself. "Yeah," he replied and glanced through the fogged window. He saw heaps of trainers in their, all bundled up in warm blankets, glad to be out of the rain. Many of them held mugs of hot chocolate and were downing them hungrily. How he despised them! Their Pocket Monsters lay at their feet, also dry. Then, he noticed a familiar trio.  
  
"Ahh!" Musashi bet him to it. He was jerk out of his mind wanderings. "It's the Jari-Tachi!" He heard her growl under her breath icily.  
  
"If I were still human," Kojiro sniffled, "I'd go in there and... and..."  
  
Musashi frowned, observing the children. Then, she replaced it with a light smile and a pink blush. She snuggled further into her friend's embrace. Confusion found Kojiro's facial expressions, but when he spotted what she had been looking at, his nose turned pink, too.  
  
"I love you," he managed to sigh.  
  
"I know."  
  
"You _are_ supposed to say, 'Love you too', y'know?"  
  
"I know. And I do," she replied and kissed him softly on his furry cheek. Their each blushes turned deeper and matched each others.  
  
"Happy Valentine's Day," Kojiro said at length.  
  
"It's not 'til tomorrow." Musashi peered up at him and shook her head slowly.  
  
"What goes up a chimney down, but not down a chimney up?"  
  
Musashi raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. As much as she wanted to answer the queer riddle, she felt much too tired. She at batted his foot and yawned.  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, either out of weariness or annoyance.  
  
"I... don't know."  
  
"Silly Kojiro..." she muttered, almost adoringly. He took advantage of her unusual good mood and kissed her again. But, when she didn't say anything else, he figured she was asleep.  
  
Well, he thought to himself, at least we're together.  
~The End~  
There it is. Sappy ending, I know, but who really cares? It's Rocketshippy, so it really doesn't matter. Hopefully, if I kept on track, it would be ready in time. The riddle was taken from 'Cole's Funny Picture Book : No. 3', mah fave childhood book. You don't get the answer here, but I'm sure you can figure it out yourself.  
  
:P  
  
Hugs and kisses on Valentine's Day!  
  
~ Destiny Fox. 


End file.
